Next to Normal - a theater review

Booth Theater, NYC, 3/09

Some days when I wade through New York City traffic or try to keep my cool when dealing with a mindless bureaucrat, the only thing that makes me stay here is the arts and theatre in NYC.

As a member of the Theatre Development Fund (TDF) I go to a lot of theatre, some good some bad and some very special. Last night I went to Next to Normal. A musical about a mother, whose grief at losing an infant son, has brought on a bipolar condition and how it affects her family.

The theme of this musical was a surprise to me after reading a brief review which stated. “Next to Normal is a contemporary musical that explores how one suburban household copes with crises…” The reviewer could have been talking about unemployment, or crab grass, but certainly not mental illness.

Next to Normal has thirty original songs and the last two are good enough, if re-orchestrated, to stand alone, but there is not a single title of a song in the Playbill!!! A Playbill about a musical without songs; I am reminded of “Don’t write naughty words on walls, if you can not spell” and don’t write reviews if you haven’t seen the show!
This production is a wonderful night of theatre, especially the first rate acting of the grief stricken mother and the powerful singing of the mother and daughter. The songs were mostly to the point and poignant. The exception was a hilarious “Sound of Music”-like … “Valium and Prozac are among my favorite things…”

Most musicals are banal, but Next to Normal, puts you in the family and you understand the emotional and practical problems of mental illness. Next to Normal, also explores the hit and miss state of modern psychiatric medicine. The long dead infant appears as a teenager, who takes on a demon-like quality more like “the Exorcist” than a modern medical problem
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Despite a poor playbill, Next to Normal is not an alternative condition, but another reason to see theatre in New York City.

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